Unholy tier set bonuses feel super underwhelming…
Let’s hear what you guys think need to change for UHDK set bonuses!
They need to make it every 5 wounds instead of every 5 scourge strikes
9 Likes
Wounds applied or wounds popped?
It should be wounds popped and it should work in aoe to bring more value to infected claws. It would also give the set some aoe functionality which it’s missing right now.
2 Likes
wounds popped would BE so much fun especially with certain pvp talents
2 Likes
Yes please make it 5 wounds instead of Scourge Strike. Not sure how this would work with cleaving in DnD, but Scourge Strike just doesn’t get pressed as much in PvP as PvE.
God it would be so fun if it were wounds seriously praying they change it
1 Like
Would you say you use Scourge strike a lot in rotation? I am relearning the spec now and could use some general tips / tricks?
But there isnt much that bursts wounds in pve. So it would be a slight improvement over just scourge strike / clawing right? Theres apoc, scourge strike / clawing shadows and what else?
I might be missing something. I dont play unholy much at all, and I really havent been playing retail much.
The crucial point here is to avoid naked SS/CS spam. That’s degenerate and unfun
6 Likes
Switching from Scourge Strike to wounds would work how? exactly?
Would it apply on a specific target per 5 wounds popped on that target?
Would it apply on primary target only per 5 wounds popped in general?
Personally I don’t see this being an improvement.
In single target it would be a miniscule gain from wounds popped by Apocalypse, as the majority of wounds are popped by scourge strike. Also scourge strike pops one wound per hit, this is no different from gaining one soul reaper every 5 scourge strikes (assuming you are not using scourge strike on targets without wounds, in which case its worse).
In AoE it would encourage you to spread AND pop 5 wounds on each target for the gain of ONE free soul reaper per target which may or may not be in execute range. This isn’t worth it. Ideally against 5 targets (since scourge strike is capped at 5 targets) you can only get one free soul reaper per target per death and decay window assuming all targets have 5 wounds each in the first place (which isn’t doable since they will all be dead before you can apply that many wounds).
If Blizz really wants to stick with some bonus involving soul reaper (which I hope they don’t), I think having the pet apply it is better, something like:
2pc spending runic power increases pet energy regen rate by x% per rp spent.
4pc pet’s claw attack (has a chance to or on every Nth attack) applies soul reaper (works in
dark transformation cleave).
Whichever way they decide to implement it, I think any set bonus built around soul reaper will be either balanced in single target execute phase and useless in AoE, or, have value in AoE and be way to powerful in single target execute.
i think wounds is the right way to go, proc on every 5th wound pop regardless of number of targets, apply SR to the target hit by the 5th wound pop.
this used to be a baseline mechanic of the class, getting it back as a set bonus wouldn’t settle well.
1 Like
depends on content, pvp you hardly use it, maybe 2-3 hits on a target, i take cs just so i can do some damage at range when im kited, or if they have a sliver of HP, but otherwise i dont use CS/SS all that much.
but in pve, especially single target its your primary filler and a core component of some AoE builds, so it gets quite a bit of use.
1 Like
Well in any case I’m hoping they don’t implement set bonuses built around soul reaper.
Mainly because as ilvl increases, time available to dps in execute phase decreases. which means soul reaper loses value.
The only way I can see soul reaper working as a set bonus is if the procs from the set bonus deals its extra damage regardless of target hp.
they changed it to also proc and army ghoul, if SR goes off you get bonus pet damage
That doesn’t really do much in multi target situations.
It doesn’t need changed. Unholy Death Knight “rotation” needs changed. Anyone defending the current “rotation” is just a sim drone to begin with and will gladly pick whatever ability(s) sim the best. Instead of changing the set bonus, change the way Unholy Death Knight works so there’s a meaningful rotation. If you think Unholy has any kind of meaningful rotation in SL you are delusional and going to drag this spec and class down worse than it currently is.
Festering Strike was the worst thing to ever happen to Unholy Death Knight. There was no reason for it to exist. Festering Wound on the other hand is a nice mechanic, but horribly implemented.
In WotLK, Scourge Strike was a two-rune ability that hit hard and required disease micromanaging. Now its a one-rune ability with no meaningful interaction whatsoever. Its only purpose is to pop Wounds, but you can only pop one at a time which is stupid. There’s even a PvP talent that lets Sudden Doom pop Wounds, but Sudden Doom is also a terrible mechanic with no real rotation synergy except to exist.
Ghoul is suppose to be a major part of your kit, but the one talent that actually allows your ghoul to affect your rotation is about as good as choosing nothing for single-target because its entirely RNG. Army of the Dead is a complete shadow of its former glory, especially for losing its defensive utility.
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Replace all instances of Festering Strike with Scourge Strike. Keep the Wound application functionality, but make it so Crits apply an extra Wound instead of randomly. Clawing Shadows can still be a 1-rune ability, but only applies 1 (or 2 on crit) Wounds. You can only apply Wound to targets with Virulent Plague. Death and Decay will not let Scourge Strike hit multiple targets unless Clawing Shadows talent is picked or Night Fae Covenant with Death’s Due.
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Using a Runepower Spender (or Apocalypse) on a target detonates all existing Wounds on that target. This is to allow non-Unholy specs to detonates Wounds created by non-Unholy specific sources.
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Virulent Plague no longer randomly bursts or explodes on death. If its dispelled, duration ends, or target dies it immediately detonates any existing Wounds. Death and Decay applies your Disease(s) the first time it damages a target. Pestilence will cause your Diseases to “flair up” and do an immediate tick of damage.
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Sudden Doom procs based on Wound application instead of Auto-Attack.
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Ghoul’s Claw attack always applies Festering Wound to targets with (your) Virulent Plague, even non-Unholy version (assuming you have a non-Unholy way to apply Virulent Plague to the target). Army specified ghouls (besides Abomination pvp talent) do not.
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Infected Claws talent gives your Auto-Attacks a chance to apply Wounds to targets with Virulent Plague if you have less than 2 active runes.
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All Will Serve also allows you to Control Dead a target without losing your Ghoul, but you cannot command your Ghoul while controlling a new mob (other than basic “attack” “stop” “move to” etc).
I can keep going but at this point my post is getting bloated. I made my point. Set bonus isn’t the problem, Unholy Death Knight “rotation” is.
1 Like
There was a reason for Festering Strike to exist, and that was to consume a Frost and Blood rune to convert them into death runes. There was no way for Unholy to convert Frost Runes.